World News – United States – National League East: Next step, World Series

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, display personalized content and targeted advertising, analyze site traffic, and understand where our public To learn more or to unsubscribe, read our cookie policy.Please also read our privacy notice and terms of use, which came into effect on December 20, 2019

The division winners over the past three seasons could indeed make it to the Fall Classic this time around

The National League East has won two contenders for this year’s Major League Baseball playoffs: Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the Marlins knocked down the Chicago Cubs without batting an eyelid; meanwhile, the Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds

These two teams met in the National League Division Series and Atlanta made a quick sweep of Miami’s victim.The Marlins’ season was over, but it was remarkable early on, given their closeness to COVID-19 early on of the season – a setback that many believed would result in a company-wide strike This never happened

By winning five straight games, the Braves made it to the National League Championship Series and took a chance against the seeded Los Angeles Dodgers

The West Coasters of Tinseltown seem to be in that position every year these days – not to get there at some point

When I was speculating what the two Eastern contenders would do in these playoffs, I got the Cubs bouncing Miami in three – they made me drink my medicine one last time I easily advanced the Braves past the Reds, then send the Cubs too But the arc of my analysis has moved away from what seems to be coming true in reality: I had Atlanta scrapped by LA Although I didn’t speculate on how many games it would take, a reasonable person would probably have said six

For baseball fans, a possible Dodgers / Houston Astros rematch might sound appealing As the games unfold, it doesn’t seem likely to happen. Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays intimidated Houston 3-0 As of this writing, the Astros have made the series competitive again, scoring three straight wins to force a Game 7, giving themselves a shot at winning the American League crown On the other side, however, things don’t look so promising for the Dodgers

The Braves won the first two games without a ton of drama before the Dodgers unleashed chaos – not a nod to the Under Armor brand campaign – in Game 3 when they scored 11 points at the top of the first set This game was lost early on, but Atlanta took care of business in Game 4 and was about to send Los Angeles to pack their bags by Friday night

In five and a half innings, the game was stuck at 1-1 The Dodgers had trotted Clayton Kershaw, while the Braves were forced to block with Bryse Wilson The latter finally threw six innings of quality work, allowing only one round; the former was left a bit too long and was hung up for four earned runs in five innings The Braves continued to strangle the Dodgers, 10-2

I find it hard to believe that the Astros can overcome adversity and reach the World Series in a year where no one wants to see them near the trophy, so my choice is for the Rays to advance to the World Series to face, you guessed it, the East’s lone survivor, the Braves Despite Atlanta’s streaks of success, their last World Series title came in 1995, the year I was born As much as the Rays intrigue me, so much the Braves seem to follow their offensive, plug-and-play methodology to start throwing until the end

Perhaps the scariest part of all of this: You could argue that the Braves weren’t really meant to be here yet – that the best is yet to come. Stay tuned

Atlanta Braves, National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers